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If we could sum 2023 up in one word, it would be this—journey. Throughout the year, we took a journey to the Age of the Dinosaurs with Dinosaur Trainand through the limitless possibilities of a massive digital world with Minecraft. We took a journey to sacred places around the world in Sacred Places and to an enchanted forest full of whimsical critters and lasting family memories in WinterFaire.
Here are just a few highlights of the magical and inspirational journey that was 2023.
We took a journey back in time
Buddy the T. rex and the Pteranodon family took us on a time-traveling adventure through the Age of Dinosaurs in Dinosaur Train: The Traveling Exhibit.
Based on the popular PBS KIDS TV series, Dinosaur Train, this exhibit explores the basics of science through fun, hands-on activities.
We explored endless possibilities
The world’s biggest children’s museum brought you an exhibit featuring the world’s best-selling video game in Minecraft: The Exhibition. Visitors could explore the limitless possibilities and tell their own story as they developed problem-solving skills, discovered new design concepts, and created innovative solutions to real-world problems in this one-of-a-kind exhibit.
We had many memorable visitors
As you already know, The Children’s Museum is a magical place full of joyful smiles, unavoidable giggles, wide-eyed dreams, and curious investigations. Youthful exuberance bounces around every corner and creativity practically oozes from the walls. It’s such a special place that you never know who will show up from day to day.
Here are a few visitors of note from 2023
- National Youth Poet Laureate Alyssa Gaines performed during our Black History Month celebration
- Astronaut Kjell Lindgren explored Beyond Spaceship Earth and shared some important life lessons with students
- Six-time Olympic medalist and author Jackie Joyner-Kersee kicked off a tour to promote her newest children’s book
- Malala Youfsafzai’s parents—Ziauddin and Toor Pekai Yousafzai—visited The Power of Children®
- Jeanne White Ginder shared her son Ryan’s story in The Power of Children®
- Visiting Artists Ess McKee and Brian Ballinger inspired children and families to feed their creativity and explore art in their workshops
- You. That’s right—YOU! This year is on track to be one of the highest-attended years in the museum’s history. We are honored that you chose to spend time with us
We made our Juneteenth celebration even more memorable
We’ve celebrated Juneteenth at The Children’s Museum for more than two decades. From outdoor festivals to special indoor activities, the way we have recognized this special day has evolved over the years. In 2023, we pulled out all the stops.
We partnered with Indy Juneteenth Inc. to create a FREE, memorable, and meaningful way to celebrate with our community. During Juneteenth Jamboree, we hosted many artists, performers, and vendors from our community.
The next Juneteenth Jamboree will be Saturday, June 1, 2024, with free admission to the public.
We shared stories from around the world in Sacred Places
Everyone has stories about places that are meaningful to them. We created the Sacred Places exhibit to give you a glimpse into dozens of faith communities around the world. Local and international community members—including exhibit Guides Nathan, Merahi, Shivesh, and Jude—who were involved in creating Sacred Places celebrated the exhibit’s opening with us in September.
We are honored to share their stories with you.
Sacred Places is open through April 7, 2024.
Hear their stories. Tell yours. Spark a conversation.
We began a new winter tradition—WinterFaire
In November 2023, we opened our brand-new winter experience, inviting you to enter the enchanted world of WinterFaire. It’s a joyous, magical, and whimsical indoor winter adventure full of games, imagination, and wonder.
WinterFaire is open through Feb. 11, 2024 and will return in November 2024.
Our outdoor sports wonderland became even more amazing
When we opened the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience® in 2018, we knew it was a grand slam. The bar doesn’t get much higher than that, does it?
Of course it does. And 2023 proved it.
How do you make an outdoor sports paradise even better? Let us count the ways…
Thanks to a new partnership with the Tony Stewart Foundation, we were able to overhaul the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pedal Car Racetrack Experience, including the addition of new “my-sized” pedal cars and the Tony Stewart Foundation Accessibility Lane. Now there’s no height restrictions to race the pedal cars and the entire outdoor experience is accessible to everyone!
The revamped Oval Track helped to make the second annual SpeedFest a day for the record books!
We’re excited that “Indiana’s Team”—also known as the Indy Eleven—is now an integral part of our sports wonderland. Through this relationship, we’ve converted our soccer area into an Indy Eleven mini-pitch and fittingly renamed it the Indy Eleven Soccer Experience.
But wait…there’s more!
We added a new experience, too—the Hershey USATF RunJumpThrow Experience. Thanks to our partnership with USA Track & Field, you can run a 50-meter dash, leap into a long jump pit, and try your hand at throwing a shot put in this new area!
The phenomenal Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience® raises the bar every season. Go ahead and mark your calendars for March 16, 2024. That’s when the outdoor areas reopen for another incredible season of keeping score in smiles. You really don’t want to miss it. Because when the play is better, your day is better!
More highlights from the journey
Here’s a brief rundown of even more memorable moments from 2023…
- We visited the Roaring ‘20s during Museum by Moonlight—the museum’s biggest single-day fundraiser of the year—raising $210,000 (there was even a marriage proposal)
- For The Children’s Museum Guild’s 59th Annual Haunted House, we took a trip to BOOville—the “offseason” home of Halloween’s classic villains— raising more than $750,000 for the museum
- Thanks to your support, we were named the best children’s museum in the country by USA Today’s 10Best—thank you from the bottom of our dino-loving hearts
- Other awards of note that we received in 2023 include
- IBJ HR Impact Award for Diversity and Inclusion
- The Indianapolis Community’s Choice Award for Best Family Amusement
- Our President and CEO Jennifer Pace Robinson was named one of the IBJ Media Indiana 250. It was also recently announced that she is the recipient of the 2023 Champions of Diversity President's Choice Award
- Our social media presence grew by more than 57,000 followers
- We launched a new podcast series—Spotlighting Our Community—helping to shine the spotlight on the great things that are happening right here in our community
The journey continues
The past year was pretty magical, if we do say so ourselves. Although we’ve been around for a while—98 years, to be exact—we’ve really only just begun this journey. And we’re expecting MORE in ‘24—more joy, more curiosity, more family time, and more memories. Look at what’s coming in 2024:
Three new exhibits will take a journey to The Children’s Museum…
- Emotions at Play with Pixar’s Inside Out
Discover the important role emotions, memory, and imagination play in our everyday lives—open Feb. 3–May 19, 2024 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™: Secrets of the Sewer
Hone your ninja skills with your favorite “Heroes in a Half-Shell”—open March 9–Sept. 2, 2024 - Mandela: The Official Exhibition
Explore the life of iconic freedom fighter and political leader, Nelson Mandela—open June 22, 2024-Jan. 20, 2025
PLUS, your favorite seasonal exhibits will return…
- The Riley Children's Health Sports Legends Experience®
Our outdoor sports wonderland reopens this spring - The Children's Museum Guild's 60th Annual Haunted House
The Haunted House will return for another frightfully fun experience in October - WinterFaire
Get ready for another whimsical indoor winter adventure when it reopens in November
All of these exhibits* and experiences— and specially themed days like the Eclipse Extravaganza, Earth Day Celebration, SpeedFest, STEM Exploration Day, Chemistry Day, and Countdown to Noon— are all included with museum admission. That means members can participate in all of these events for free!
As we start to gear up for our 100th anniversary in 2025, you really don’t want to miss anything we have planned. What are you waiting for? Join us on the journey today!
Become a Member
*The Haunted House is a fundraiser and requires an additional ticket. Members do receive a discount on Haunted House tickets.
Dinosaur Train: The Traveling Exhibit was created by The Magic House in collaboration with The Jim Henson Company. © 2023 The Jim Henson Company. Jim Henson’s mark & logo, Dinosaur Train mark & logo, characters and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
Minecraft: The Exhibition is organized by the Museum of Pop Culture in partnership with Mojang.
The Visiting Artist Program is a project of the Lechleiter Indiana Visiting Artist Fund with support provided by The White Oak Foundation, Sarah and John Lechleiter.
Sacred Places is made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. The principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.
The Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience® is made possible through lead gift support from The Enid Goodrich Educational Initiatives Fund; Riley Children’s at Indiana University Health; The Herbert Simon Family Foundation/Pacers Foundation/The Herbert and Bui Simon Foundation; Old National Bank; Lilly Endowment Inc.; Efroymson Family Fund; Henry and Christine Camferdam; The Children’s Museum Guild; Elizabeth Bracken Wiese and J. Frederic Wiese Jr.; Indianapolis Colts; NCAA; Ice Miller LLP; Dr. and Mrs. George Rapp, Dr. and Mrs. John Rapp, and Mr. James and Dr. Patricia Rapp.
The Annual Haunted House is organized by The Children’s Museum Guild.
Emotions at Play with Pixar’s Inside Out was developed by Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios. © Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved. Used under authorization.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™: Secrets of the Sewer © 2023 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Mandela: The Official Exhibition is produced by Round Room Live in partnership with The Royal House of Mandela (RHoM) and RHoM Investments.
